My picnic basket is an old cooler from Target and I use it often. Any time we have the chance to eat outside and save ourselves a trip to the broom closet, we take it. Also, the fact that I have a Tupperware fetish makes packing the picnic a thrill for this mommy.

My favorite, most-used Tupperware is the Sandwich Keeper (pictured). These are just the right size for two PB&Js on standard sandwich bread or for any kind of wrap. They also are handy for keeping a packet of graham crackers from getting smashed to smithereens in your picnic basket.

I like to pack a dishtowel to use as a napkin or placemat–paper napkins get carried away by the breeze too easily. And I have a blanket in the back of my car for picnic seating.

We almost always have PB&J or egg salad sandwiches, cut-up fruit or carrot sticks, and some kind of inoffensive snacky thing to share with whomever else is around: maybe veggie booty or graham crackers. If the fridge is stocked, I also like to pack those cute Babybel cheeses—the red wax-wrapped circles. For drinks, I always bring water for everyone, chocolate milk for the boys, and Diet Coke for my caffeine fix. And I usually pack something for dessert, though I try to keep that under my hat until the children have eaten something more sustaining.

My ideal picnic would have lots of salad greens, cold poached salmon, roasted vegetables, real forks, and iced whiskey in a Spiderman thermos. So far this has never happened. Maybe this summer…

Katy Killilea lives in Barrington with her husband, their sons (2001 + 2003), and a dog named Grover. Katy loves reading, cooking, loud pants, the Beehive in Bristol, and learning everything she can about Type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. She says more about that at Bigfoot Child Have Diabetes.